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marked on their outer webs with grey ; tail with eight narrow interrupted bars of greyish white, and 

 slightly tipped with rufous ] under surface of quills and tail-feathers dusky, the former largely toothed 

 and the latter barred with white. Bill bluish blaek ; base of lower mandible horn-colour ; cere pale 

 yellow ] legs brighter yellow ; claws black ; iridcs brownish yellow, becoming purer yellow with advancing 

 maturity. Extreme length 19 inches; extent of wings 31; wing, from flexure, 11*25 3 tail 8-25; 

 culmen 1*2; tarsus 2*5 ; middle toe and claw 2*75 ; hind toe and claw 175. 



Adult female. The plumage is similar to that of the male, excepting, perhaps, that the spotted markings on 

 the sides are more distinct; but there is a slight difference in the size. Extreme length 19*5; wing, 

 from flexure, 11-5; tail 8*5; tarsus 2-75. 



Young. Crown of the head and upper parts generally brownish black, glossed with grey in certain lights 

 line over each eye reddish fulvous ; throat fulvous white, with a central line of brown on each feather 

 sides of the neck, breast, lining of wings, and underparts generally dark brown varied with fulvous 

 sides marked with rounded spots of fulvous white, very obscure in some specimens; tibial plumes 

 reddish brown; lower part of abdomen, vent, and inner side of thighs fulvous; under surface of quills 

 and tail-feathers dusky, with numerous transverse bars of white. Cere and bare space around the eyes 

 bluish white ; irides black ; legs dark grey^ with black claws. 



Nestling, Covered with plumbeous -grey down. 



Obs. The above measurements were taken from a pair of birds of this species formerly in the Christchurch 

 Acclimatization Gardens, and now preserved in the Canterbury Museum, the sex in both cases having 

 been determined by Dr. Haast, after careful dissection. The dimensions of the young male figured in 

 our plate, the skin of which is now in the British Museum, accord almost exactly with those given above. 

 The figure of the adult female is from a fine specimen obtained in the South Island, and now, with the 

 rest of my collection, in the Colonial Museum at Wellington. Examples vary in the details of their 

 colouring. In some the light spots on the sides are far more conspicuous and the tibial plumes are of 

 a brighter rufous than in others. As a rule, the white bars on the tail-feathers, although interrupted 

 in the middle, are conterminous on each side of the shaft. In a specimen, however, obtained by Mr. 

 Travers in the South Island, the bars are alternate on each web, as is also the case with another, in the 

 possession of Mr. T. H. Potts; but this character is quite exceptional. 



The synonymy given above will serve as a tolerably complete guide to the scientific and literary 

 history of the present species ; but much confusion has arisen at various periods with regard to 

 the nomenclature employed, and a few words in further explanation of the subject appear to be 



necessary. 



In Mr. G. R. Gray's ' List of the Birds of New Zealand/ pubHshed as an Appendix to 



Dieffenbach's 'Travels' (1843), this naturalist recognizes only two species of Accipitres, which he 



calls respectively Falco harpe, Forst., and Falco hrunnea, Gould, thereby intending, of course, to 



indicate the existence of two distinct species of true Falcons in New Zealand ; but in this list 



there is no mention whatever of the Harrier {Circus gouldi), a common and well-known bird in 



our country. In adding the native names an unfortunate mistake occurred ; for Falco harpe was 



stated to be the bird known to the inhabitants as " Kahu " and " Kahu-papango," whereas these 



are in reality the native appellations for the Harrier, which, as already stated, had been omitted 



from the list. This will, no doubt, account for the mention of Gould's Harrier, in the earlier 



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